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It's official. The World Cup of Hockey is coming back....and I for one couldn't be happier. There is nothing better than watching the best in the world compete at their highest levels for their country. The Olympics are phenomenal, but obviously the NHL has issues with their convenience and has no control whatsoever over the product. All the NHL can do when it comes to the Olympics is say "Yes" or "No."

The World Cup is another story. It can be held in North America, won't break up the season, and will showcase their stars. In time I am sure the NHL would like to transition away from the Olympics...that may or may not be the result they get...but we will see.

The Format for the World Cup though has a bit of a gimmicky element to it. The inclusion of an All-World under 23 team and a team from the remaining teams in Europe is interesting on some levels, but really does distinguish this event from all other World Sport tournaments. I would much rather teams like Slovakia, Switzerland, Latvia, Belarus, etc, play a pre-tournament to see who gets in. One of the greatest parts of World Sporting events, like the Olympics, is pulling for the underdog. Was there anything more exciting than Latvia vs. Canada in Sochi?

What are your thoughts?



I will discuss this topic on Today's Cranky Hockey Writers show with Eric Duhatschek and Kevin Allen...watch below.


Today's HockeyBuzzCast is Live at 1pm

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